As some experienced cannabis growers who have been started to grow cannabis over a couple of years are still asking the questions about: [How to looking for a good LED Grow Light?", so I started to write this post for helping the growers to avoid working on the wrong way. Whatever if you know about the market, I will let you quickly get in the zone after you read this post. There some keywords that will help you when you struggle to buy the lights:
Light Intensity
Light intensity is one of the top considerations when choosing an Led Grow Light. You want the right amount of light intensity for the plant`s growth stage and for the size of your grow space. It's possible to have too much light on your plants, however; most growers are concerned with the opposite-not having enough light.
When people talking about the light intensity that is not how intense it appears to the human eye, but instead the number of photons that plants can use for growth and flowering. So, how do you know which fixture will cover the area that you need it to cover with the correct amount of light intensity?
Use the recommended footprint from the manufacturer. This is the easiest and quickest way to know which light will be adequate for your grow space. Although, this doesn't really tell you how much light is emitted from the fixture.
Therefore, one manufacturer may claim that their light covers a 4` x 4` area, while another manufacturer that has a similar light with similar light intensity will say their light covers a 4.5` x 4.5` area.
PPF Reading
Sometimes, coverage areas can be a little subjective. Therefore, use the PPF reading to determine how much light the fixture emits. PPF stands for Photosynthetic Photon Flux and is the total light output of the lamp in umol/s.
This is measured in an integrating sphere. In general, if the PPF is above 1100 umol/s or so, it will cover a 4` x 4` area. About 1500 umol/s is the top of the range for a light that covers a 4` x 4` area.
PPF is an important measurement because it is an official measurement for light output and it creates a baseline for light output measurements across manufacturers. Yet, light intensity is not the entire story. When considering only light intensity, it is similar to saying that the sun emits 'x' number of photons. But what we actually care about is how much of that light hits the surface of the earth and how it is distributed across the surface? Similarly, we want to know how much of the light from the fixture strikes our plants and how is it distributed.
PPFD stands for Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density.
The PAR map shows you how intense the light is over a given area and how that intensity is distributed. Every single light source is most intense in the middle of the fixture, less intense on the edges, and even lower in the corners.
Some Led Grow Lights emit all their light from a small surface area. Their PAR charts will be less uniform with higher numbers in the center and very low numbers elsewhere over the map. Generally, these fixtures are placed higher above the plants.
Other fixtures have several lower power diodes over a large surface area. Their PAR charts will be more uniform. The highest numbers will still be highest in the center, but there will not be as big of a disparity between the center readings and edge or corner readings.
The average PPFD is one of the most important specs since this tells you the average light intensity over the given footprint. Sometimes, this spec is reported with or upon the PAR chart, but not always. The only downside to the average PPFD is that it doesn`t take uniformity into consideration.
Now, that you have these PPFD readings on a PAR map in front of you, you might be wondering what readings are typical for my stage of growth for an 18 hour veg period and a 12h flowering period?
Plants in the veg stage need around 300 PPFD to 600 PPFD. Some people veg at higher intensities. Plants in the flowering stage need at least 600 PPFD to 1000 PPFD. Higher intensities can be used when using CO2. These PPFD numbers vary since it depends on how hard you want to push your plants.
Some LED Grow Lights are dimmable which allows you to dial down the light intensity for seedlings and during veg to help save energy.
Spectrum
It's so hard for plants grower to choose because there are so many types of LED grow lights in the market. According to the plant's type that you grow, some people may suggest you buy some different types of spectrum.
You want to ensure you choose the correct spectrum for the stages of growth and development that your plants will go through. Some growers only need light for veg, others for flowering, while most growers will choose to have a fixture to grow from seedling to flower.
Generally, increased blue light is better for veg since it keeps the distance between the internodes shorter which leads to squattier plants with less stretch. Increased red light is desired for the flowering stage since it helps drive yields. Having some red in the spectrum during veg is essential for healthy plants and having some blue in the spectrum for flowers helps improve quality. Light intensity and the ratio of red to blue light during flower will determine the yield.
Considering the germination, flowering, and fruiting of plants, people need to think about light types when plants germinate, flower, and fruiting of plant. A Full Spectrum Indoor Grow Lights can be applied to all plants and simulate the sunlight of plants need from germination to maturity. So to buy a full spectrum is the best choice which means you don't need to change the light to the other one from plants seeding to bloom. Because the light intensity required by plants from germination to maturity is different, an adjustable-full spectrum light is highly encouraged.
Overall, the best spectrum for your growth depends on the stage of growth your plants are in and what you want to get out of the-quality or yields.
Wattage Draw
Wattage draw has been used by growers for years to determine a fixture`s potential for growth. However, wattage does not exactly translate to light output. The more efficient a fixture is the more light it will exude per watt. For instance, a light that is 2.5 umol/j that has a light output of 500W will have a PPF of 1250 umol/s. But a light that has an efficacy of 2.0 umol/j and draws 600W (100W more watts than the previous example) will have a PPF of only 1,140 umol/s. In this example, more watts are used in the second case, but the light output is less. The point being, you can`t use wattage alone to determine the light output of a fixture. Wattage will only give you a general idea of how powerful a fixture might be, so take wattage with a grain of salt.
Wattage draw, efficacy, and light output are more important to commercial growers since energy consumption really starts to add up, so they want the most amount of light for the least amount of wattage. You might consider a lower power fixture if energy consumption is of high importance to you. If you don`t care about energy consumption, but just want the best light for your money, then choose a light-based off on other performance specs.
Also, be aware of fixtures that are titled `1000W` or `600W`, for example. This usually refers to the diode wattage and not the actual power draw of the fixture. So, that proclaimed 1000W fixture you found on Amazon, Alibaba, or eBay may actually only draw 250W.
Many growers want to know how many watts you need per square foot for flowering. This number varies but sits around 32 watts per square foot. Sometimes less (down to 30W), but sometimes more (up to 40W). Determining how much light coverage you need when searching for LED grow lights for your plants, you'll notice they are grouped by wattage. Led grow lights typically range between 300 to 2000 watts. I would recommend that you give your plants 50 watts per square foot during the blooming stage, I would recommend providing as much as 80 watts per square foot keep in mind the coverage dimensions. As the technology advances and gets cheaper I'm sure LED grow lights for hobby growers will continue to grow in size.
Coverage area
Grow space sizes vary from environment to environment, so knowing the exact dimensions of your space is very important. Common sized grow areas for hobbyists include 2` × 2`, 3` × 3`, and 4` × 4` spaces and also sets of these dimensions such as 2` × 4`, 3` × 6`, 4` × 8` and 8` × 8` etc.
Most large powerful lights will cover a 4` × 4` for flower, with the biggest ones covering about a 5` × 5` area. It is nearly impossible to find lights that will cover a footprint larger than this because the edges and corners of the light footprint start to diminish in intensity. At this point, it is better to use several small lights to cover a larger area since this will allow a more uniform light intensity over the canopy.
For example, if you are growing plants in an 8` x 8` area, it is better to use four lights that each cover a 4` x 4` area instead of buying the most powerful light you can find to cover the largest footprint. In smaller areas, such as a 2` x 4` area, you can choose a light that is advertised to cover that area or use two lights that each cover a 2` x 2` area, but it is not a good idea to use a light that covers 3` x 3` area.
Some LED grow lights do not use lenses, so the light is more spread out and diffused than it has. Depending on the design of the light, they usually placed higher above the canopy, or sometimes as close as 6" from the canopy.
Warranty
99% of the time LED grow lights work with no issues after you buy.
led grow light warranties can range from 1 year to 5 years, most companies offer a 3-year warranty. You might consider reading the warranty on the manufacturer`s link before you buy a Grow Light if you have any questions.
Most manufacturers will send a replacement part or light free of charge if there is any problem happened with the fixture within the warranty period. After a warranty expires, typically you would be responsible for paying for any parts or repairs.
Price
The cost of an LED grow light is a big consideration for most people, however, the costs of LED light are coming down. Considering the fixture`s size, light output, and quality of parts tend to drive these price discrepancies.
Normally, a grow light can range from below $100 up to over $2000.
Even though LEDs are more expensive than a traditional HID setup, the LEDs themselves will last 50,000-100,000 hours, and compare to the electricity cost is much lower. As the LED grow light can last you 10 years or more which means the cost is not a problem for growers compare to the income.
Performance of the lights is the top consideration in these cases, but many growers are struggling with the budget. So finding the best LED grow light for their budget would be a big challenge.
Light intensity, spectrum, and quality of parts are the top considerations when working with a limited budget. You want to get the most amount of light for your money so you can ensure the plants are getting enough light to produce a good yield, also want the fixture to cover the most amount of area within your grow space to ensure your entire plant is being doused in intense light.
When you searching for the best LED grow light you can do this by choosing a trusted manufacturer, reading reviews of the light, getting a friends recommendation, consulting with an unbiased source, or choosing a fixture that uses components from companies you might have heard of such as Cree, samsung , Osram, or Mean Well, for example.
You want the best bang for your buck when you are on a budget. Or with less budget, you could choose the lower configuration to buy.
Overall, you want the best bang for your buck when you are on a budget. Or with less budget, you could choose the lower configuration to buy.
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